EARLY SETTLEMENTS.
In the month of September, 1522, a few weeks over three years after
Magellan’s proud fleet sailed from San Lucar de Barrameda, in Spain, a
single ship put into that port. She was seaworn and battered, with torn
sails, and timbers warped and scarred by many a storm. The people hailed
her with joy, and everywhere in Spain men were glad when they heard of
her safe home-coming. This ship was the _Victoria_, commanded by Captain
Juan Sebastian del Cano (sā bäs´tē än del kä´nō), a statue of whom now
stands in the main hall of the Palacio in Manila. She was the only one
left of the five ships that had gone out with Magellan three years
before.
But battered and scarred as she was, the _Victoria_ was a ship to be
proud of. She had sailed clear around the world, and at that time no
other ship had ever done such a thing. No wonder, then, that everybody
was glad to see her, and was proud of her. The people were sorry when
they learned of the sad fate of Magellan, but there were still brave
captains and clever seamen in Spain, and these at once began making
plans to go to the new-found San Lazarus Isles.
One of the expeditions that were fitted out was lost; but in 1542 a
second company left the city of Navidad (nä vē däth´) in Mexico, or New
Spain, as that country was often called. This one was commanded by a
Spanish nobleman named Ruy Lopez de Villalobos (rē lō peth´dā vēl yä
lō’bos). After a long, hard journey the expedition reached the island
now called Samar. The Spanish did not try to settle there, but Ruy Lopez
named this island Isla Filipina, in honor of Prince Philip of Spain.
That one little fact is of interest to us, because about a year later a
certain Spanish gentleman who was writing a letter home from Mexico
spoke of the whole group of islands as Las Islas Filipinas. This name
was at once taken up in Spain. No one remembered that Magellan had named
the islands San Lazarus, but every one called them Islas Filipinas; and
so these Philippine Islands received a name which they have ever since
kept.
The Spanish gentleman who wrote that letter was Don Miguel Lopez de
Legaspi. He was a nobleman of Spain, but for many years he lived in
Mexico. He was one of the many great men who, in early times, made
Spain’s name a proud one. He was a young man when he went to New Spain
and began to practice law. He was an honest gentleman and an able
statesman, and before many years he was made mayor of the City of
Mexico. He seems to have been a truly religious man, wise and just; a
man to trust, and one well able to lead other men. For such men there
are always high places in the world. Legaspi was, moreover, a brave
soldier and a skillful sailor.
[Illustration:
STATUE OF SEBASTIAN DEL CANO.
In the Palacio, Manila.
]
It is not strange, therefore, that the king of Spain should have known
about him. The king at this time was Philip II., for whom, when he was
prince, these islands were named. He came to the throne in 1555, and
soon after was minded to send out an expedition to settle in the country
named for him. He looked about for a man to command this expedition, and
his choice fell upon Legaspi. So he made him general of the whole force.
There were four ships and a frigate in the new fleet, and all were
strongly armed and well stocked for the journey. The force of men
numbered 400 soldiers and sailors, carefully chosen, and fit for the
brave adventure before them.
With the fleet there were also six friars of the Order of St. Augustine,
and the leader of these was a man after Legaspi’s own heart. His name
was Andres de Urdaneta (än´drās dā ur´dä nā´tä). He had been at one time
a captain in King Charles’s navy, and had long wanted King Charles I. to
send him on an expedition to the Pacific. But the king was weary of wars
and longed for rest. Of his own accord he left the throne, to retire
into private life; and Urdaneta took holy orders.
When Philip II. was making ready his great expedition, he remembered his
father’s friend Urdaneta, and chose him to go with Legaspi as captain of
the spiritual forces of the fleet. These two men, Legaspi and Urdaneta,
were warm friends. It is very fitting that in the monument on the Luneta
in Manila, their figures should to-day stand side by side. When we see
this monument, we should remember the brave journey these two men made
together years ago, and the bright future which they hoped to secure for
these islands.
This new fleet sailed from Navidad, on the coast of Mexico, on the 21st
day of November, 1564. The expedition was unlike the ones that had gone
before it. It had for its aim the setting up of Spain’s rule in the
islands, whereas the others had gone out to seek new lands and to
conquer them. The men with Legaspi meant to stay in the islands and to
make their homes there.
Legaspi had been warned not to go first to Cebu. His advisers thought it
would be better to settle on one of the other islands and slowly to make
friends with the Cebuans before going to live among them. This, however,
was not Legaspi’s plan. He knew that the Cebuans were the very people
whom he must win over at first, if he hoped to have peace in his new
home. You see, the Spaniards as yet knew nothing about the great island
of Luzon. They had no knowledge of the size and nature of this new
country, but thought the best part of it lay to the south.
Legaspi sailed for Cebu, but when he began to draw near to the
archipelago he sent one of his ships ahead to learn what sort of welcome
the expedition might look for from the Cebuans. The commander of this
ship brought back a gloomy report. The Cebuans had not been at all
friendly. Instead, they had caught and killed one of the men of the
landing crew from the ship, and would have killed the others had not the
Spanish pulled off from shore and gone back to their ship.
When this report was brought to Legaspi he was very sorry. He at once,
however, made up his mind to go to Cebu and subdue the people. This he
thought was his duty toward his king; so the fleet sailed to Cebu. It
came safe into harbor, and the soldiers landed in front of the town of
Cebu on the 27th day of April, 1565. The Spanish were amazed and
delighted with the beauty and fruitfulness of the island. Weary with
their long voyage, they would gladly have made friends with the people
and been at peace in that lovely spot.
[Illustration:
ANCIENT FORT COMMANDING CEBU HARBOR.
]
The people, however, would not be friends. They had driven the Spanish
from their shore once, and did not mean that the strangers should come
back to live there. The chief, King Tupas (tö´päs), was a brave and
warlike man, and with a large army he came down to the shore to beat off
the newcomers. A fierce battle was fought there by the sea, but it did
not last long. The spears and arrows of the Cebuans were of little use
against Spanish armor, while the Spanish firearms did deadly work among
the lightly-clad Cebuan warriors. After a few hours the Cebuans were
forced back from the shore, and the Spanish held the town.
Legaspi now set to work to win the liking of the Cebuans. He believed
firmly that the king of Spain was by divine right the lawful ruler of
these islands; but for himself, he meant to govern kindly and wisely in
the name of the king. He could not do this until he had shown the people
that he and his soldiers were their friends. To this task, therefore, he
bent all his wisdom.
So earnestly did the Spanish commander work to win over the people, that
in a very few months the whole island was in a state of peace. A little
later, Padre Urdaneta went back to Spain to report all that had been
done. King Philip II. was much pleased with the friar’s report, and made
Legaspi “governor-general of all the territory in the archipelago that
he might conquer for Spain.”
Matters now went very quietly with the natives for several years; but
trouble came to the Spaniards from the outside. At this time there was
great rivalry between Spain and Portugal in the discovery and settlement
of new lands. In each of these countries there were many daring sailors
and brave soldiers who liked nothing better than to go on wild
adventures for their kings, to find and to claim new lands.
So great was the rivalry between these two countries that Pope Alexander
VI., soon after the discovery of America, made a decree dividing between
them all the lands that might be discovered. The dividing line was the
meridian of Cape Verde Island. By his decree the Pope gave all heathen
lands discovered west of that line to Spain. All the lands that should
be discovered east of the meridian he gave to Portugal. Under this
ruling, as we may see by looking at a map, the Philippine Islands would
have fallen to Portugal.
Spain, however, claimed these islands by right of discovery, and was
ready to uphold her claim by force of arms. This Legaspi had to do
before he had been long in Cebu. An expedition of Portuguese came out
against the Spanish, and, but for Legaspi’s brave defense of the island,
would have taken it from them. The Portuguese were forced to retire,
however, and though for years there was much trouble over the matter,
Portugal never made good her claim to the Philippines.
By 1570 Legaspi had made the town of Cebu a city and the seat of
government. In the spring of this year a grandson of his, a young
Spanish captain named Juan Salcedo (säl sā´dō), came from Mexico to help
him in the islands. He was a very young man, but a good soldier, and
wise beyond his years. His grandfather was glad, indeed, to have such a
helper, and sent him out at the head of a strong force to visit all the
islands.
The Spanish had learned by this time about the island of Luzon that lay
to the north, so Salcedo was ordered to go up there and see what it was
like. He sailed from Cebu early in the summer, and made his way
northward to the great bay of Manila. Here he found a town called
Maynila by the people who lived there, and here he landed with his
company of soldiers, all in full armor.
[Illustration:
THE MONUMENT TO LEGASPI AT CEBU CITY.
]
The people of Luzon had never before seen European soldiers. They
thought that these were gods, and not men, and made haste to be friends
with them. They could not understand the firearms which the soldiers
carried, and were much afraid of them. They gave up their city at once,
and brought food and fruits as offerings to the strange visitors.
Salcedo spoke kindly to them, and when he had made them understand what
he wanted, they all swore loyalty to Spain.
But Soliman (sō lē´män), chief of Maynila, soon saw that these huge
strangers were only men, after all. Then he was filled with sorrow to
think that he had given up his city to them, and made up his mind to win
it back. He gathered all his warriors and led them against the Spanish,
but it was of no use. Salcedo’s forces were too strong for his army, and
Soliman was defeated. He was driven out from his city again; but this
time, rather than let the Spanish have it, he set fire to it and burned
it down.
Juan Salcedo now showed himself to be kind as well as brave. When he had
taken Soliman prisoner, he did not punish him for breaking his oath of
fealty to Spain. He forgave him freely, and let him take the oath again.
Then he let him go on ruling his people in the name of the king of
Spain.
After this Salcedo passed on through Luzon, claiming the country for
Philip II. He visited those parts now known as Laguna (lä gö´nä),
Pangasinan (pän gäsē nän´), and the Camarines (cäm ä rē´nēs). He took
the city of Cainta (kä ēn´tä), where a Moro chief ruled, and then went
to what is now Ilocos Sur (ēl ō´cos sör). One of his captains, named
Martin de Goiti (mär´tin dā go ē´tē), he left at Maynila with a small
force to guard the camp. Goiti also conquered the people of Pampanga
(päm pän´gä). Later Salcedo sent a messenger to his grandfather,
Governor-General Legaspi, asking him to come at once to Maynila.
During all the time that Salcedo was taking Maynila and bringing the
country under the rule of Spain, Legaspi was busy in the Visayas (vis
ä´yäs). He had been in the country five years or more, and had done much
to make peace with the people. The chief of Cebu had accepted baptism,
with many of the Cebuans, and one of his daughters was married to a
Spaniard. There was great good feeling between the two races, and the
Cebuans looked upon the Spanish as friends. Well pleased, therefore,
with the way things were going in Cebu, Legaspi went on a tour through
all the Visayan group.
Legaspi was at Iloilo on the island of Panay (pän ī´) when this
messenger found him and told him all that Salcedo had done in Luzon.
Legaspi was much pleased at the news. He saw at once that Maynila was
the place of all others on the islands in which to set up the
government, and he made ready to go to Luzon. He could do this all the
more easily because of the way he had managed things in the Visayas. All
the native chiefs were still in power, and Legaspi left them to rule as
they had always done, save that they now ruled in the name of the king
of Spain. The governor-general was able, therefore, to leave behind him
a quiet, orderly government, and to give his mind freely to the new work
before him.
The journey northward was made in safety, and early in March of the year
1571, Legaspi and his party reached Cavite (kä vē´tā). Here they were
met by the Tagal (tā´gäl) chief, Lacondola (lä con dō´lä), rajah or king
of Tondo (ton´dō), who is sometimes also spoken of as Rajah Matanda (mä
tän´dä) or the “old Rajah.”
Lacondola welcomed Legaspi as the lawful ruler, and told him that he and
his people were loyal to the king of Spain. The party then went on to
Maynila, and here also Legaspi was greeted as the king’s representative.
Soliman, the former king of Maynila, was never a really willing subject
of Spain. But he was a nephew of Lacondola, and the old Rajah’s counsel
had great weight with him; so he never rebelled against the new ruler.
[Illustration:
LEGASPI SAILING TO MANILA.
]
Legaspi now declared King Philip the overlord of that whole country, and
made Maynila the capital. He changed the spelling of the name to
_Manila_. This word is made up of two Tagal words—_may_, which means “to
have,” and _nila_, a kind of tree that once grew thickly around the
city—and _Maynila_ means that there were many nila trees there.
Lacondola and Soliman joined forces with Martin de Goiti, to help
strengthen the new rule in the islands. The country now known as
Batangas (bä tän´gäs) Province was then ruled by several chiefs who were
usually at war with the Tagals and other tribes. They and their people
had come from Borneo and had intermarried with the Negritos (nā
grē´tōs). They were great hunters and good fighters, but would not yield
to the Spaniards; so, with the aid of other tribes, the Spaniards drove
them from the country. There were other chiefs ruling in the districts
about Manila Bay; but these showed themselves friendly to Spain, and
were left in office, to govern in the name of the king.
The work of putting the country in order now went on rapidly. In June,
1571, Legaspi formed the City Council of Manila, and began to lay the
foundation for a wise and just rule in these islands. He made a plan for
Manila, and had the city laid out in squares and streets just as we see
it to-day inside the walls. He also set the people to work building
these walls for a defense against the wild tribes. The walls were
nineteen years in building, and to-day, after more than three hundred
years, they are still strong and beautiful, to show how well the Tagal
people builded. The fort at the mouth of the Pasig River was also begun
at this time.
Governor-General Legaspi was a strong, wise ruler for this country. He
was a man far ahead of his times and of his people, “a good man among
men, and a great man among statesmen.” If his plans for the Philippines
had been carried out, the history of the islands would be very different
from what it is to-day. If those who came after him had been as wise and
as kind as he, the Filipinos would have been a happy, contented people.
But dark days came all too soon to the colony. On the 20th day of
August, 1572, Legaspi died, worn out by the hard labors of his active,
useful life. He was buried in the Augustine Chapel of San Fausto, in
Manila, and another sort of rule soon began in the islands.
_Summary._—The _Victoria_, commanded by Juan Sebastian del Cano,
reached Spain in September, 1522. She was the first ship to sail
around the world. Twenty years later Ruy Lopez de Villalobos commanded
an expedition which went to Samar. He named this island “Isla
Filipina,” and later Legaspi gave the name “Islas Filipinas” to the
entire archipelago. Miguel de Legaspi commanded an expedition sent out
by King Philip II. to settle in the islands. With him came the
Augustine friar P. Urdaneta. This fleet left Navidad, Mexico, November
21, 1564. The Spanish went to Cebu, conquered the people, and then
began to make friends with them and to build up the government. Later
the Spanish had trouble with the Portuguese, who came to claim the
country, but were driven away. In 1570, Juan Salcedo came out. He went
to Luzon, took Maynila, and then sent a messenger to Legaspi to tell
him to come there. Legaspi was in the Visayas, pacifying the country,
but he at once went to Maynila. He was well received by Lacondola and
Soliman, and set up his capital in Maynila. He formed the City
Council, made a plan for the city, and had work begun on the walls. He
began a wise and humane rule in the islands, but died, in August,
1572, before he was able to carry out many of his plans.
_Questions._—When did the _Victoria_ return to Spain? What had she
done? How did the Islas Filipinas get their name? Who was Miguel de
Legaspi? Who was Urdaneta? When did Legaspi’s expedition start? Where
did it sail from? How was he received in Cebu? Who was Juan Salcedo?
Tell of his work in Luzon. When did Legaspi come to Manila? Who
received him? When was the City Council founded? What sort of man was
Legaspi? When did he die?
[Illustration]