Discovery of the Philqqyines by Magelhaens. 285 



of Spain, tlie numberless restrictions to which her commerce 

 is subjected, do not admit of that magnificent development 

 of whicli tliis insular cluster, so abounding in natural wealth, 

 would be susceptible under a more frec-soulcd rule. Tlie 

 Spaniards have conquered and have subjugated the islands, 

 fanatical monks have what they call Christianized the people, 

 but, during the three hundred years that the Castilian has 

 held the supremacy here, little if anything has been done 

 for the prosperity and development of the country, or the 

 intellectual and moral advancement of the people. 



The Philippine Islands were discovered by Magelhaens 

 and Pigafetta on the 17th March, 1521, nearly twenty- nine 

 years after the discovery of America by Columbus, and two 

 years after the conquest of Mexico by Fernando Cortez. In 

 consonance with the religious customs of that age, the group 

 was named by Magelhaens " The Ai'chipelago of St. Lazarus," 

 because the day on which it was discovered corresponded 

 with the fete-day of that saint in the calendar. But the dis- 

 covery did not imply the conquest of the Archipelago. Four 

 expeditions were dispatched at various intervals, without 

 their succeeding in subduing the natives. The solitary re- 

 sult obtained thence was, that the commander of the fourth 

 expedition, that of 1542, Don Ruy Lopez de Villalobos by 

 name, changed the Scriptural name of the Archipelago for 

 that by which it is at present known, in honour of the prince 

 of Asturias (then 15 years old), afterwards Philip 11. 



