Bn tah sublets, and payn° poll-tax, or fine on entering or quitting them. The
Ü w 6 + î e£? ? .erat.ed “ shown by the people bear to the whole population in the different Europproepano rtsieotntl ewmheicnht st. heIsne
Java they form the one-hundredth part and in the Philippines about the four-
hundredth part of it. In the British possessions collectively, the Chinese constitute
about one-third of the inhabitants, and m Singapore two-thirds.
The policy of persecution has certainly not succeeded, while that of toleration has
been eminently successful. In Java, 10,000 Chinese were massacred in a day, and
this was followed by an msurrection which involved nearly the whole island, and
lasted several years. The Chinese of Borneo have been either in a state of active
or chronic rebellion gainst the Dutch since the year 1816. The Spaniards had been
only established in the Philippines eight-and-thirty years, when a revolt of the
■ S n T ? ’ followed, according to Spanish historians, by the destruction of
' so nnn - ^ T T 1 £T olt foUowed, thirty-six years after, in which
30,000 are stated to have perished. Two others followed these, also with sanguinary
results, m one of which the Chinese immediately and heartily joined the English
in v a d e r sT h e policy of equal treatment and toleration pursued by the English
has certainly n(R had so long a trial as that of coercion and restriction by the Dutch
and Spaniards, but it has been uniformly pursued since the establishment of Ben-
coolen m 1685, and neither insurrection or rebellion has been the result, while the
only example, even of a dangerous tumult, occurred at Singapore in 1851. The
Chinese are not, indeed, so docile and submissive as the Hindus, or the Javanese, or
the Tagalas, and Bisayas of the Philippines. Their propensity to form secret societies
has sometimes proved inconvenient, but on the whole they are peaceable subjects,
and them co-operation might certainly be relied on by a British government, in thé
event of foreign invasion, a co-operation which experience shows that neither the
Dutch or Spanish governments could reckon on.
CHRISTIANITY. I t is probable th a t Christian traders of Syria and Egypt
frequented the Archipelago along with Mahommedan, long before the arrival of the
Portuguese, and Ludovico Barthema, in his Itinerary, alludes to having met persons of
this description ; but no Christian converts appear to have existed previous to the
conquest of Alboquerque. The Portuguese during their dominion of 130 years
made a considerable number._ The native Catholics, found throughout the different
islands and settlements in which their power had been established, are the descendants
of these converts. The native Christians of Malacca, probably the most numerous
amounted by the enumeration of 1847 to 2784, or about one-twentieth part of the
whole population, all of the lower or labouring classes.
I t is in the Philippines alone that the Christian religion has been effectually and
extensively propagated. The work began, after a fashion, by the discoverer himself,
for the great navigator was a zealous propagandist. This is Pigafetta’s account of thé
manner of the conversion of the kings of the islands of Çebu and Massana, along
with a crowd of their followers. “ A great cross was then erected in the plain. The
captain-general had previously advised all who desired to become Christians, that it
was necessary to destroy all their idols and to substitute for them the cross, which
they were to adore on their knees daily, morning and noon. He taught them also
how to make the sign of the cross on their foreheads, and admonished them to confirm
these forms by good works. The captain-general, who was entirely clothed in
white, said that he was habited in this colour in order to show his love and sincerity
to them. Of this they appeared sensible, but without knowing what to answer. He
then took the king by the hand and conducted him to a stage, where he, and those
that were with him, were baptised. The king (of Çebu) who was before called Raia
(Raja) Humabon, was named Don Carlo, after the emperor,—the prince, Don Eerdi-
nando, after the emperor’s brother,—the king of Massana, Giovanni, and one of the
principal chiefs got the name of our captain, that is, Ferdinando. The Moorish
merchant (master of a junk from Siam) was named Cristoforo, and others had other
names given to them. Five hundred islanders were baptised before saying mass. The
captain invited the king and some of his chiefs to dine with him : they excused
themselves, but accompanied us to the beach, where they took leave. In the meanwhile,
there was a general discharge of artillery from the ships. After dinner, the
priest and many of us went ashore in order to baptise the queen and other ladies.
We mounted the same stage where the queen was seated on a cushion, and the other
ladies around her on mats. When the priest made his appearance, I called the
attention of the queen to a portrait of Our Lady, and to a wooden statuette repre-
CHRISTIANITY 99 CHRISTIANITY
sentmg the Infant Jesus, and a cross, at the sight of which things she felt a m o v em e n t
of contrition, and weeping, entreated to be baptised. Other ladies ef he« i .
baptised along with her. She was named Joanna, the nm e o T l 7[ere
Elizabeth. A particular name was given to all the rest. We bLtised t w n
between men, women, and children, about eight hundred persons The 11 1 7’
me to have the Bambino (the same alleged to have b e eY fo T d 44^ a ^ E v a
soldier of Legaspi), in order to keep it in room of her own idols, and I gave R to her
At a later hour the king and queen came down to the sea-sid*» w
assembled, and took pleasure in listening to the harmless discharge of ™ ^ ? r.e
1i r : r n 4u“ d,“ ^ v » g? s ^ 2 ,z , S o , 7 r ’whioh
pelago, such an exhibition a T t h T Z t describfdwo^d w Portloa °{ Archi-
mdeed, seems never to have been attempted by the Portuguese o r ^ y ^ J ^ S
p oLV e faU th e r c q X t e t r e n T s ^ S e l n d t l w m t l f LegaSpi’ a man ***
Dominicans, headed by Andres deTTr-d»?;e+o „ - I ' purpose. A band of
necessary to the successful apostle of a new faith ^ee Poss.essed of all the qualities
Philippines, and the f i t | W of the
and discretion. Other religious orders followed the Tie ^ temPered by skill
conversion has been prosecuted, up to the present day ThatoWo ^ 1,ab°ur of
three centuries. The result has been that w „ y? ls’ for a period of near
CCaatthhoolriclnsO, Uw“ittt1hhn ^thhea CeCxOcredpintigo nt 0o ft h1e K K’cHe mns of 184P9,Pto Wf ef!?o■v SSkK ? a ^re Roman
Mindano, with 8064 Chinese. Even a considemble nur^W / f mountaineers of
appear to have been converted to C h ristiaT itv an ^ h “ . 6 mestl2° Chinese
other part of the Archipelago y’ evemen t accomplished in no
of native worship existed among them nor had e itW f or£anieed system
produced any material impression. Even, however withT^h Phn1 °r-Hinduism
selves, where serious obstacles happened to exist th i Pi)dlPPines themeither
with very little success or with none at all T „B J f S 7 "™th°°d have met,
Mahommedans anticipated them, they have totallv failed d*-U S ’ wbere the
Mindano, from the same cause, their success has been / g re a t I s la n d of
a comparatively small portion of its territorv ^ h fl« t ^ Y nfll?g’ for they b°ld but
not exceed 60,000 in number. y' whlle the converts to Christianity do
ptir0on,mVRottfeddhbgyeintc. e,T^mhuosr atloit yte^kneu ZmiboenrPIttmmidf0 pt)hhy^sri^cSa^lia cno^my<f’o^rata, bheaevne buenndefoicuibatbe dlEyd bueceanth
d l Pan,iarda have introduced among their subjects“ ™ ^ h® laSt°f these benefits;
and the horse. The Spanish p r fo s th o o dW^ the potato>the °x
victory, but they may be said^o W contributed & great intellectual
to the conquest of the Philippines a conm w + I? as mucb as the army itself
cauCsher i°sft iarentiatyin cinang hfaorrd lS vphaein , lon?g ’aff ter sbIhlee hnaass llooss°tt all hert obt®h7e r coloPnrioebsably be the
of the Malayan Arehipelaso The ^ ? any Progress at all in the great islands
H 2