The people of the Philippines, their religious progress and preparation for spiritual leadership in the Far East,

THE MOROS CLASH WITH SPAIN

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the Moluccas were discovered, became angered at the Portuguese Government. He therefore went to the rival King of
Spain and had himself appointed to command a Spanish fleet,
which set forth in quest of the passage to the East Indies
which Columbus had failed to find.
In a voyage seven times longer and far more arduous than
that of Columbus, Magellan rounded South America and somehow found his way across the Pacific. Month after month
his five little ships sailed on and on and on-for a year and
eight months before they reached the Philippines. Magellan
took them for the King of Spain, then began the struggle
with the Moros which never ceased as long as Spain retained
control of the Islands. It was the unhappy fate of the
Spaniards to have borne the brunt of the impact with Islam
at her two farthest extremities. Christendom owes an incalculable debt to Spain-perhaps the day may come when we
shall recognize that her service in stemming the tide in the
Philippines was as important for world history as was her
service in Europe-some day when Asia looms as large in
world affairs as Europe does today.
Magellan razed one Cebu town because it refused to give
up Islam and become Christian; and then himself perished
fighting the chief of Mactan. Many of his men were massacred at a feast in Cebu. Only one of his five ships ever
returned to Spain with the glory of having first circumnavigated the globe. The Spaniards made no attempt to settle
the Philippines until 1505. The first missionary to the Moros
was not a Spaniard but a Portuguese, who reached Mindanao
in I538. While he tried to convert the Moros, his fellow
Portuguese employed them to capture Filipinos as slaves.
When the Spaniards did arrive in Moroland in 1578 it was
not with missionaries but with a large fleet under Captain
Esteban Rodriguez de Figueroa. It was to be conquest first
and conversion or annihilation afterwards. Figueroa claims
to have been victorious, but he left immediately after his
"victory" without converting, annihilating, or even occupying
Jolo.
Thrilling pages might be written of expeditions, one after