PHILIPPIANS 



6109 



PHILIPPINE ISLANDS 



wcrld. The battle forms the 

 scene of the last act of Shake- 

 speare's play of Julius Caesar. ^ 



Philippians, EPISTLE TO THE. 

 One of the epistles of S. Paul, 

 belonging to the group known as 

 the Epistles of the Captivity. Its 

 authenticity may be said to be 

 fully guaranteed by external evi- 

 dence. It is included in the Canon 

 of Marcion and in the Muratorian 

 Canon, is referred to by Polycarp, 

 and was accepted by Irenaeus. 

 The internal evidence is equally 

 strong, the epistle bearing unmis- 

 takably the stamp of S. Paul's 

 character. It is addressed from 

 prison to the Church of Philippi, 

 which S. Paul founded on his 

 second missionary journey. Since 

 the imprisonment was probably in 

 Rome, rather than in Caesarea, the 

 epistle may be assigned to A.D. 63. 

 It is a very personal letter, express- 

 ing S. Paul's thanks for gifts and 

 other friendly acts, and his great 

 joy in the Gospel, and exhorting 

 the Philippians to rejoice with him. 



Philippics. Series of speeches 

 delivered by Demosthenes (q.v.) 

 from 351-341 B.C. They were so 

 called because their purport was 

 to warn his countrymen against 

 the designs cherished by Philip of 

 Macedon for the overthrow of 

 Greek independence. The speeches 

 contain a great deal of violent per- 

 sonal invective. The name Philip- 

 pics was also given to 14 orations 

 of Cicero against Mark Antony. 



Philippine Islands. Extensive 

 group of islands in the N. part of 

 the East Indies, belonging to 

 the U.S.A. They number more 

 than 3,100, and with the Sulu 

 Islands cover a land surface of 

 about 115,000 sq. m. The principal 

 islands are Luzon, Mindanao, Para- 

 gua, Negros, Panay, Samar, Min- 

 doro, Bohol, Cebii, Leyte, and 

 Masbate. Manila is the capital. 



Mainly of volcanic origin, the 

 Philippines are traversed by mag- 

 nificent and irregular mt. ranges, 

 well clothed with vegetation and 

 separated by plains of great 

 fertility, watered by innumerable 

 lakes and rivers, which afford 

 ample means of transport. The 

 general disposition of the mts. is 

 from N. to S. Parallel with the E. 

 coast of Luzon runs the Sierra 

 Madre, a range extending from the 

 N. point to near Manila and averag- 

 ing from 3,500 ft. to 4,500 ft. alt. 

 On the opposite side of the island 

 are the Caraballos Occidentals, 

 which attaic m Mt. Data a height 

 of 7,364 ft. Between the two 

 ranges is the fertile valley of the 

 river Cagayan, noted for its to- 

 bacco. Apo or Davao, 10,312 ft., an 

 extinct volcano in Mindanao, is 

 the culminating summit. 



,' - 



, Babuyan 



PHILIPPINE 

 ISLANDS 



On Mercator's Projection 

 Railways , , ,., . , ^ 



Philippine Islands. Map of the Pacific group ceded in 

 1898 to the U.S.A. 



Several of the rivers and lakes 

 are of considerable size. Cagayan, 

 in Luzon, is the longest river, 

 others being the Agno Grande and 

 Abra, in the same island, and the 

 Pulangua or Bio Grande de Min- 

 danao and the Agusan in Mindanao. 

 Liguasan, Buluan, and Lanao in 

 Mindanao, and Laguna de Bay, 

 Cagayan, and Taal, in Luzon, are 

 the largest lakes. 



The climate is tropical, but on 

 the whole not unhealthy. Rain 

 from the S.W. monsoon falls be- 

 tween June and Sept. on the W. 

 coasts, and from Oct. the N.E. 

 trades bring rain to the E. coasts. 

 The mean annual temperature is 

 80 F. The indigenous flora is 

 generally similar to the Malayan, 

 with the addition of some more N. 

 varieties, and also a few Australian 

 genera. Large forests of teak, 

 ebony, sandal, and other valuable 

 woods occur, and among the eco- 

 nomic plants are the Manila hemp, 

 gomuti palm, pineapple, cotton, 

 tea, coffee, cocoa, indigo, sugar- 

 cane, tamarind, and tobacco. Nut- 

 meg, cassia, clove, and pepper 

 also abound. Rice is cultivated, 

 and maize, wheat, yams, bananas, 

 oranges, lemons, and other tropical 

 fruits are produced. The buffalo 

 is the largest wild mammal, others 

 being antelopes, boars, deer, and 

 monkeys ; and among domestic 



animals are the 

 horse, goat, sheep, 

 and hog. In the 

 woods eagles, 

 herons, wild duck, 

 and many other 

 birds are found, 

 and crocodiles in- 

 fest the rivers. 



Gold is one of 

 the most valuable 

 mineral products 

 of the Philippines, 

 and silver, copper, 

 lead, iron, plat- 

 inum, and manga- 

 nese are worked ; 

 while among the 

 volcanoes sulphur 

 occurs in consider- 

 a b 1 e quantities. 

 Industries include 

 the cultivation 

 and manufacture 

 of abaca or Manila 

 hemp and the 

 manufacture of to- 

 bacco and cigars. 

 Pearls and edible 

 birds' nests are a 

 valuable item of 

 trade with China. 

 According to 

 the census of 1903 

 the pop. numbered 

 7,635,426, but this 

 total had in 1918 

 increased to about 10,000,000. The 

 Negritos, a pygmy race giving its 

 name to the island of Negros, but 

 inhabiting the mountainous dis- 

 tricts of the other islands as well, 

 are regarded as the aborigines. The 

 bulk of the people are Malays, the 

 chief types being Tagals in Luzon, 

 and Visayans in the other islands. 

 The dominant religion is Roman 

 Catholicism. 



The Philippines were discovered 

 in 1521 by Magellan, who was 

 shortly afterwards killed during a 

 skirmish on Mactan Island, and 

 were annexed by Spain in 1569, 

 after several expeditions had been 

 made. Manila, which became the 

 Spanish capital in 1571, w^s occu- 

 pied by the British, 1762-64. The 

 islands remained a Spanish posses- 

 sion until 1898, when they were 

 ceded to the U.S.A. as a result of the 

 Spanish- American War. Aguinaldo 

 led the Filipinos in a revolt against 

 the Americans which was virtually 

 ended by his capture in 1901. 

 Later a movement for self-govern- 

 ment was started by the Filipinos. 

 Bibliography. The Philippine 

 Islands, 55 vols., E. H. Blair and J. 

 A. Robertson, 1903-9 ; History of 

 the Philippines, D. F. Barrens, 

 1905 ; The Philippine Islands, F. W. 

 Atkinson, 1905 ; Handbook of the 

 Philippines, H. M. Wright, 2nd ed. 

 1908; The Philippines Past and 

 Present, D. C. Worcester, 1914. 



