Philippine history 1

The Development of the Philippines and of Japan.—In many ways the next decade of the history of the Philippine Islands may resemble the splendid development of the neighboring country of Japan. Both countries have in past times been isolated more or less from the life and thought of the modern world. Both are now open to the full current of human affairs. Both countries promise to play an important part in the politics and commerce of[10]the Far East. Geographically, the Philippines occupy the more central and influential position, and the success of the institutions of the Philippines may react upon the countries of southeastern Asia and Malaysia, to an extent that we cannot appreciate or foresee, Japan, by reason of her larger population, the greater industry of her people, a more orderly social life, and devoted public spirit, is at the present time far in the lead.
The Philippines.—But the Philippines possess certain advantages which, in the course of some years, may tell strongly in her favor. There are greater natural resources, a richer soil, and more tillable ground. The population, while not large, is increasing rapidly, more rapidly, in fact, than the population of Japan or of Java. And in the character of her institutions the Philippines have certain advantages. The position of woman, while so unfortunate in Japan, as in China and nearly all eastern countries, in the Philippines is most fortunate, and is certain to tell effectually upon the advancement of the race in competition with other eastern civilizations. The fact that Christianity is the established religion of the people makes possible a sympathy and understanding between the Philippines and western countries.
Japan.—Yet there are many lessons which Japan can teach the Philippines, and one of these is of the advantages and rewards of fearless and thorough study. Fifty years ago, Japan, which had rigorously excluded all intercourse with foreign nations, was forced to open its doors by an American fleet under Commodore Perry. At that time the Japanese knew nothing of western history, and had no knowledge of modern science. Their contact with the Americans and other foreigners revealed to them the inferiority of their knowledge. The leaders of the country[11]awoke to the necessity of a study of western countries and their great progress, especially in government and in the sciences.
Japan had at her service a special class of people known as the samurai, who, in the life of Old Japan, were the free soldiers of the feudal nobility, and who were not only the fighters of Japan, but the students and scholars as well. The young men of this samurai class threw themselves earnestly and devotedly into the study of the great fields of knowledge, which had previously been unknown to the Japanese. At great sacrifice many of them went abroad to other lands, in order to study in foreign universities. Numbers of them went to the United States, frequently working as servants in college towns in order to procure the means for the pursuit of their education.
The Japanese Government in every way began to adopt measures for the transformation of the knowledge of the people. Schools were opened, laboratories established, and great numbers of scientific and historical books were translated into Japanese. A public school system was organized, and finally a university was established. The Government sent abroad many young men to study in almost every branch of knowledge and to return to the service of the people. The manufacturers of Japan studied and adopted western machinery and modern methods of production. The government itself underwent revolution and reorganization upon lines more liberal to the people and more favorable to the national spirit of the country. The result has been the transformation, in less than fifty years, of what was formerly an isolated and ignorant country.
The Lesson for the Filipinos.—This is the great lesson which Japan teaches the Philippines. If there is to be transformation here, with a constant growth of [12]knowledge and advancement, and an elevation of the character of the people as a whole, there must be a courageous and unfaltering search for the truth: and the young men and young women of the Philippines must seek the advantages of education, not for themselves, but for the benefit of their people and their land; not to gain for themselves a selfish position of social and economic advantage over the poor and less educated Filipinos, but in order that, having gained these advantages for themselves, they may in turn give them to their less fortunate countrymen. The young Filipino, man or woman, must learn the lessons of truthfulness, courage, and unselfishness, and in all of his gaining of knowledge, and in his use of it as well, he must practice these virtues, or his learning will be an evil to his land and not a blessing.
The aim of this book is to help him to understand, first of all, the place that the Philippines occupy in the modern history of nations, so that he may understand how far and from what beginnings the Filipino people have progressed, toward what things the world outside has itself moved during this time, and what place and opportunities the Filipinos, as a people, may seek for in the future.
The Meaning of History.—History, as it is written and understood, comprises many centuries of human life and achievement, and we must begin our study by discussing a little what history means. Men may live for thousands of years without having a life that may be called historical; for history is formed only where there are credible written records of events. Until we have these records, we have no ground for historical study, but leave the field to another study, which we call Archeology, or Prehistoric Culture.
Historical Races.—Thus there are great races which [13]have no history, for they have left no records. Either the people could not write, or their writings have been destroyed, or they told nothing about the life of the people. The history of these races began only with the coming of a historical, or more advanced race among them.
Thus, the history of the black, or negro, race begins only with the exploration of Africa by the white race, and the history of the American Indians, except perhaps of those of Peru and Mexico, begins only with the white man’s conquest of America. The white, or European, race is, above all others, the great historical race; but the yellow race, represented by the Chinese, has also a historical life and development, beginning many centuries before the birth of Christ.
The European Race.—For thousands of years the white race was confined to the countries bordering the Mediterranean Sea. It had but little contact with other races of men and almost no knowledge of countries beyond the Mediterranean shores. The great continents of America and Australia and the beautiful island-world of the Pacific and Indian oceans were scarcely dreamed of. This was the status of the white race in Europe a little more than five hundred years ago. How different is the position of this race to-day! It has now explored nearly the entire globe. The white people have crossed every continent and every sea. On every continent they have established colonies and over many countries their power.
During these last five centuries, besides this spread of geographical discoveries, the mingling of all the races, and the founding of great colonies, has come also the development of scientific knowledge—great discoveries and inventions, such as the utilization of steam and electricity, which give to man such tremendous power over the[14]material world. Very important changes have also marked the religious and political life of the race. Within these years came the Protestant revolt from the Roman Catholic Church, destroying in some degree the unity of Christendom; and the great revolutions of Europe and America, establishing democratic and representative governments.
The European Race and the Filipino People.—This expansion and progress of the European race early brought it into contact with the Filipino people, and the historical life of the Philippines dates from this meeting of the two races. Thus the history of the Philippines has become a part of the history of nations. During these centuries the people of these islands, subjects of a European nation, have progressed in social life and government, in education and industries, in numbers, and in wealth. They have often been stirred by wars and revolutions, by centuries of piratical invasion, and fear of conquest by foreign nations. But these dangers have now passed away.
There is no longer fear of piratical ravage nor of foreign invasion, nor is there longer great danger of internal revolt; for the Philippines are at the present time under a government strong enough to defend them against other powers, to put down plunder and ravage, and one anxious and disposed to afford to the people such freedom of opportunity, such advantages of government and life, that the incentive to internal revolution will no longer exist. Secure from external attack and rapidly progressing toward internal peace, the Philippines occupy a position most fortunate among the peoples of the Far East. They have representative government, freedom of religion, and public education, and, what is more than all else to the aspiring or ambitious race or individual, freedom of opportunity.
Spanish Occupation and Conquest.—As we come to the history of Spanish occupation and conquest of the Philippines, we find many interesting letters and reports sent by both soldiers and priests to the king, or to persons in Spain. The first complete book on the Philippines was written by a missionary about 1602, Father Predo Chirino’s Relacion de las Islas Filipinas, printed in Rome [17]in 1604. This important and curious narrative is exceedingly rare, but a reprint, although rude and poor, was made in Manila in 1890, which is readily obtainable. The Relacion de las Islas Filipinas was followed in 1609 by the work of Judge Antonio de Morga, Sucesos de las Islas Filipinas. This very rare work was printed in Mexico. In 1890 a new edition was brought out by Dr. José Rizal, from the copy in the British Museum. There is also an English translation.
These two works abound in curious and valuable information upon the Filipino people as they were at the time of the arrival of the Spaniards, as does also a later work, the Conquista de las Islas Filipinas, by Friar Gaspar de San Augustin, printed in Madrid in 1698. This latter is perhaps the most interesting and most important early work on the Philippine Islands.
As we shall see, the history of the Philippines is closely connected with that of the East Indian Spice Islands. When the Spanish forces took the rich island of Ternate in 1606, the triumph was commemorated by a volume, finely written, though not free from mistakes, the Conquista de las Islas Moluccas, by Leonardo de Argensola, Madrid, 1609. There is an old English translation, and also French and Dutch translations.
To no other religious order do we owe so much historical information as to the Jesuits. The scholarship and literary ability of the Company have always been high. Chirino was a Jesuit, as was also Father Francisco Colin, who wrote the Labor Evangelica, a narrative of the Jesuit missions in the Philippines, China, and Japan, which was printed in Madrid in 1663. This history was continued years later by Father Murillo Velarde, who wrote what he called the Segunda Parte, the Historia de la Provincia de Filipinas de la Compania de Jesus, Manila, 1749.
There is another notable Jesuit work to which we owe much of the early history of the great island of Mindanao: this is the Historia de Mindanao y Jolo, by Father Francisco Combes. The year 1663 marked, as we shall see, an epoch in the relations between the Spaniards and the Mohammedan Malays. In that year the Spaniards abandoned the fortress of Zamboanga, and retired from southern Mindanao. The Jesuits had been the missionaries in those parts of the southern archipelago, and they made vigorous protests against the abandonment of Moro territory. One result of their efforts to secure the reoccupancy of these fortresses was the notable work mentioned above. It is the oldest and most important writing about the island and the inhabitants of Mindanao. It was printed in Madrid in 1667. A beautiful and exact edition was brought out a few years ago, by Retana.
A Dominican missionary, Father Diego Aduarte, wrote a very important work, the Historia de la Provincia del Sancto Rosario de la Orden de Predicadores en Filipinas, Japon y China, which was printed in Manila at the College of Santo Tomas in 1640.
We may also mention as containing a most interesting account of the Philippines about the middle of the seventeenth century, the famous work on China, by the Dominican, Father Fernandez Navarrete, Tratados historicos, politicos, ethnicos, y religiosos de la Monarchia de China, Madrid, 1767. Navarrete arrived in these islands in 1648, and was for a time a cura on the island of Mindoro. Later he was a missionary in China, and then Professor of Divinity in the University of Santo Tomas. His work is translated into English in Churchill’sCollection of Voyages and Travels, London, 1744, second volume.
The eighteenth century is rather barren of interesting [19]historical matter. There was considerable activity in the production of grammars and dictionaries of the native languages, and more histories of the religious orders were also produced. These latter, while frequently filled with sectarian matter, should not be overlooked.
Between the years 1788 and 1792 was published the voluminous Historia General de Filipinas, in fourteen volumes, by the Recollect friar, Father Juan de la Concepcion. The work abounds in superfluous matter and trivial details, yet it is a copious source of information, a veritable mine of historical data, and is perhaps the best known and most frequently used work upon the Philippine Islands. There are a number of sets in the Philippines which can be consulted by the student.
Some years after, and as a sort of protest against so extensive a treatment of history, the sane and admirable Augustinian, Father Joaquin Martinez de Zuñiga, wrote his Historia de las Islas Filipinas, a volume of about seven hundred pages. It was printed in Sampaloc, Manila, in 1803. This writer is exceptional for his fairmindedness, his freedom from the narrow prejudices which have characterized most of the writers on the Philippines. His language is terse and spirited, and his volume is the most readable and, in many ways, the most valuable attempt at a history of the Philippines. His narrative closes with the English occupation of Manila in 1763.
Recent Histories and Other Historical Materials.—The sources for the conditions and history of the islands during the last century differ somewhat from the preceding. The documentary sources in the form of public papers and reports are available, and there is a considerable mass of pamphlets dealing with special questions in the Philippines. The publication of the official journal of [20]the Government, the Gazeta de Manila, commenced in 1861. It contains all acts of legislation, orders of the Governors, pastoral letters, and other official matters, down to the end of Spanish rule.
A vast amount of material, for the recent civil history of the islands exists in the Archives of the Philippines, at Manila, but these documents have been very little examined. Notable among these original documents is the series of Royal Cedulas, each bearing the signature of the King of Spain, “Yo, el Rey.” They run back from the last years of sovereignty to the commencement of the seventeenth century. The early cedulas, on the establishment of Spanish rule, are said to have been carried away by the British army in 1763, and to be now in the British Museum.
Of the archives of the Royal Audiencia at Manila, the series of judgments begins with one of 1603, which is signed by Antonia de Morga. From this date they appear to be complete. The earliest records of the cases which came before this court that can be found, date from the beginning of the eighteenth century.
Of modern historical writings mention must be made of the Historia de Filipinas, three volumes, 1887, by Montero y Vidal, and the publications of W. E. Retana. To the scholarship and enthusiasm of this last author much is owed. His work has been the republication of rare and important sources. His edition of Combes has already been mentioned, and there should also be mentioned, and if possible procured, his Archivo del Bibliofilo, four volumes, a collection of rare papers on the islands, of different dates; and his edition, the first ever published, ofZuñiga’s Estadismo de las Islas Filipinas, an incomparable survey of the islands made about 1800, by the priest and historian whose history was mentioned above.
Accounts of Voyagers Who Visited the Philippines.—These references give some idea of the historical literature of the Philippines. They comprise those works which should be chiefly consulted. There should not be omitted the numerous accounts of voyagers who have visited these islands from time to time, and who frequently give us very valuable information. The first of these are perhaps the English and Dutch freebooters, who prowled about these waters to waylay the richly laden galleons. One of these was Dampier, who, about 1690, visited the Ladrones and the Philippines. His New Voyage Around the World was published in 1697. There was also Anson, who in 1743 took the Spanish galleon off the coast of Samar, and whose voyage is described in a volume published in 1745. There was an Italian physician, Carreri, who visited the islands in 1697, in the course of a voyage around the world, and who wrote an excellent description of the Philippines, which is printed in English translation in Churchill’s Collection of Voyages.
A French expedition visited the East between 1774 and 1781, and the Commissioner, M. Sonnerat, has left a brief account of the Spanish settlements in the islands as they then appeared. (Voyage aux Indes Orientales et à la Chine, Paris, 1782, Vol. 3.)
There are a number of travellers’ accounts written in the last century, of which may be mentioned Sir John Bowring’s Visit to the Philippine Islands, 1859, and Jagor’s Reisen in der Philippinen, travels in the year 1859 and 1860, which has received translation into both English and Spanish.
Bibliographies.—For the historical student a bibliographical guide is necessary. Such a volume was brought out in 1898, by Retana, Catalogo abreviado de la Biblioteca [22]Filipina. It contains a catalogue of five thousand seven hundred and eighty works, published in or upon the Philippines. A still more exact and useful bibliography has been prepared by the Honorable T. H. Pardo de Tavera, Biblioteca Filipina, and is published by the United States Government.
It is lamentable that the Philippines Government possesses no library of works on the Archipelago. The foundation of such an institution seems to have been quite neglected by the Spanish Government, and works on the Philippines are scarcely to be found, except as they exist in private collections. The largest of these is said to be that of the Compañia General de Tabacos, at Barcelona, which has also recently possessed itself of the splendid library of Retana. In Manila the Honorable Dr. Pardo de Tavera possesses the only notable library in the islands.
Since the above was written the Philippines Government has commenced the collection of historic works in the Philippines, and a talented young Filipino scholar, Mr. Zulueta, has gone to Spain for extensive search, both of archives and libraries, in order to enrich the public collection in the Philippines.
The publication of a very extensive series of sources of Philippine history has also been begun by the Arthur H. Clark Company in the United States, under the editorship of Miss E. H. Blair and Mr. J. A. Robertson. The series will embrace fifty-five volumes, and will contain in English translations all available historical material on the Philippines, from the age of discovery to the nineteenth century. This notable collection will place within the reach of the student all the important sources of his country’s history, and will make possible a more extensive and accurate writing of the history of the islands than has ever before been possible.