CHRISTIANITY AND TRADE ESTABLISHED.—THE BAPTISM OF THE QUEEN.
CILAFALAFA, kALIFAH OF MATAN NEAR ZUBU
MAGELLAN ENTERED ZUBU
On April 9th they entered the Port of Zubu, on approaching which they saw houses in the trees. The Captain hung out his flags in the clear sunny air. He caused his artillery to be fired, which greatly alarmed the natives. He then sent an interpreter to the King.The interpreter found the people in terror at the thunder of the guns. He assured the King that the salute had been made in his honor. Then the interpreter said:
"My master is the greatest King in all the world. We are sailing at his command to discover the Spice Islands. But we have heard of your fame, and the fame of your country, and have come to visit you."
"You are welcome," said the King, "but you must pay me tribute."
"My master," said the interpreter, "is the greatest of all Kings, and we can pay tribute to no one."
The King feasted them, and they entered into negotiations of peace with the King of Zubu.
At Zubu Magellan turned missionary with no common zeal.
He told the native princes that his visit was for the sake of peace
We are told that the "Captain General sat in a chair of red velvet, and near him were the principal men of the ships sitting in leather chairs, and the others sat on the ground on mats.
"The Captain," says the narrative, "spoke at length on the subject of peace, and prayed God to confirm it in Heaven. These people replied that they had never heard such words as these which the Captain had spoken to them, and they took great pleasure in hearing them. The Captain, seeing then that those people listened willingly to what was said to them, and that they gave good answers, began to say a great many good things to induce them to become Christians.
"He told them how God had made Heaven and earth and all other things in the world, and that he had commanded that every one should render honor and obedience to his father and mother, and that whoever did otherwise was condemned to eternal fire."
His teaching bore immediate fruit.
"The people heard these things willingly, and besought the Captain to leave them two men to teach [131] and show them the Christian faith, and they would entertain them well with great honor. To this the Captain answered that for the moment he could not leave any of his people, but that if they wished to be Christians that his priest would baptize them, and that another time he would bring priests and teachers to teach them the faith."
His manner of teaching reveals his heart:
"The people told him that they wished to consult their King in regard to becoming Christians." The friends of the Captain "wept for the joy which they felt at the good-will of these people, and the Captain told them not to become Christians 'from fear of us, or to please us, but that if they wished to become Christian they must do it willingly, and for the love of God, for even though they should not become Christian, no displeasure would be done them, but those who became Christian would be more loved and better treated than the others.' Then they all cried out with one voice that they did not wish to become Christians from fear, nor from complaisance, but of their free will."
Here the true character of the man again appears—few Christian explorers ever made so noble a record. His sincerity won the hearts of the natives:
"At last they said they did not know what more to answer to so many good and beautiful words which he spoke to them, but that they placed themselves in his hands, and that he should do with them as with his own servants."
Then the Captain, with tears in his eyes, embraced them, and, taking the hand of the Prince and that of the King, said to him that by the faith he had in God, and to his master the Emperor, and by the habit of St. James which he wore, he promised them to cause them to have perpetual peace with the King of Spain, at which the Prince and the others promised him the same."
It is a pleasure to follow such a narrative as Pigafetta here writes in illustration of the character of a true Christian Knight. Compare this narrative with the history of Pizarro, Cortes, and De Soto. Magellan was a Las Casas, a Marquette, a La Salle.
The next incident told by Pigafetta has as fine a touch as a portrayal of character. It relates to a message which Magellan sent to the King, with a present.
"When we came to the town we found the King of Zubu at his palace, sitting on the ground on a mat made of palm, with many people about him.
"He had a very heavy chain around his neck, and two gold rings hung in his ears with precious stones.
"He was eating tortoise eggs in two china dishes, and he had four vessels full of palm wine, which he drank with a cane pipe. We made our [133] obeisance, and presented to him what the Captain had sent him, and told him, through the interpreter that the present was not as a return for his present which he had sent to the Captain, but for the affection which he bore him. This done, his people told him all the good words and explanations of peace and religion which he had spoken to them."
We now behold Magellan in a new attitude, as a missionary teacher,Pigafetta thus describes the scene:
On Sunday morning, the fourteenth day of April, we went on shore, forty men, of whom two were armed, who marched before us, following the standard of our King Emperor. When we landed the ships discharged all their artillery, and from fear of it the people ran away in all directions
"Magellan and the King embraced one another, and then joyously we went near the scaffolding, where the Captain General and the King sat on two chairs, one covered with red, the other with violet velvet. The principal men sat on cushions, and others on mats, after the fashion of the country.
"Then the Captain began to speak to the King through the interpreter to incite him to the faith of Jesus Christ, and told him that if he wished to be a good Christian, as he had said the day before, that he must burn all the idols of his country, and, instead of them, place a cross, and that every one should worship it every day on their knees, and their hands joined to Heaven; and he showed him how he ought every day to make the sign of the Cross
"To that the King and all his people answered that they would obey the commands of the Captain and do all that he told them. The Captain took the King by the hand, and they walked about on the scaffolding, and when he was baptized he said that he would name him Don Charles, as the Emperor his sovereign was named; and he named the Prince Don Fernand, after the brother of the Emperor, and the King of Mazzava, Jehan; to the Moor he gave the name of Christopher, and to the others each a name of his fancy. Thus, before mass, there were fifty men baptized."
The baptism of the Queen followed.
"Our Chaplain and some of us went on shore to baptize the Queen. She came with forty ladies, and we conducted them onto the scaffolding; then made her sit down on a cushion, and her women around her, until the priest was ready. During that time they showed her an image of our Lady, of wood, holding her little child, which was very well made, and a cross. When she saw it, she had a greater desire to be a Christian, and, asking for baptism, she was baptized and named Jehanne, like the mother of the Emperor. The wife of the Prince, daughter of this Queen, had the name of Catherine, the Queen of Mazzava Isabella, and to the others each their name.
"That day we baptised eight hundred persons of [135] men, women, and children. The Queen was young and handsome, covered with a black and white sheet; she had the mouth and nails very red, and wore on her head a large hat made of leaves of palm, with a crown over it made of the same leaves, like that of the Pope. After that she begged us to give her the little wooden boy to put in the place of the idols. This we did, and she went away. In the evening the King and Queen, with several of their people, came to the sea beach, where the Captain had some of the large artillery fired, in which they took great pleasure. The Captain and the King called one another brother."
The naming of the Queen at her baptism for poor Juana, or "Crazy Jane," the incapable mother of Charles V, who was watching beside her dead husband in Granada, and who had signed the commission of Magellan by proxy, completes a tale of missionary work in a somewhat ideal way. If these people did not maintain their faith, the work reveals the intention of Magellan, and shows the nobility of character of the Christian Knight
These were indeed days of joy. The glory of them grew. All the inhabitants of the island came to be baptized. Magellan went on shore daily to hear mass.
It was Pigafetta who gave to the Queen the image of the infant Christ, which became historical.
On one of the occasions that Magellan went on shore to hear mass he met the Queen, who appeared in a veil of silk and gold. He sprinkled over her some rose water and musk, and noticed that she cherished the image of the infant Christ.
The joy of these scenes reached their height, when the King of Seba swore fealty to the King of Spain.
The scene of the conclusion of this ceremony was [137] knightly indeed, and again reveals the heart of Magellan.
He, seeing a good spirit, of the King of Seba, resolved to swear fealty of eternal friendship to him. Only a Christian Knight would have dreamed of such a thing.
"I swear," he said, "by the image of our Lady, the Virgin, by the love of my Emperor, and by the insignia, on my heart, that I will ever be faithful to you, O King of Seba!"
Magellan, as we have shown, had sought not wealth, nor glory, but the good of the world in his life. He was ever ready to put his own interest aside in the service of that which was best for others. He had sought welfare and not wealth, service and not self, and his life was about to end in the unselfish spirit in which it had lived.
On Friday, April 26, 1520, Zula, one of the great chiefs of the Island of Matan, sent to Magellan one of his sons and two goats as a present. He had promised his service to the King of Spain, but this surrender of royalty had been opposed by another chief named Silapalapa. This chief had declared with native spirit that Matan would never submit to the Spanish King.
"But I can overthrow Silapalapa," ran the Matan chief's message, "if I can have your help. Send me a boatload of men. Let them come to-morrow night."
Magellan received the message and the presents in a friendly feeling, and resolved to follow the chief's lead.
"I will not send another on this expedition so full of peril," he thought. "I will lead it myself."
So he set out from Zubu to Matan at midnight, with sixty men, in corselets and helmets. He took with him the Christian King, and the chief men of his new adherents.
The boats moved silently over the tropic waters under the moon and stars. Magellan had become a happy man. He could not doubt that he was on his way to new victories. Pigafetta, the Italian, always true to the Admiral, was with him
The expedition arrived at Matan just before the dawn of the morning.
The mellow nature of Magellan came back to him on this short night journey. He had no wish to slaughter men.
So he spoke to a Moorish merchant.
"Go to the natives," he said, "and tell them if they will recognize a Christian King as their sovereign I will become their friend. If not, that they must feel our lances."
The Moorish ambassador was landed, and met the chiefs.
"Go tell your master," they said, "that if he has lances, so have we, and our lances are hardened by fire."
At the red dawn of the morning, the Admiral gave the order to disembark, and forty-nine men leaped into the water. They faced a fierce army, some fifteen hundred in number.
CILAFALAFA known as Lapulapu, kAlifah of Matan
Magellan divided his followers into two bands. The musketeers and cross bowmen began the attack. But the firing was not effective. The black army moved down upon them like a cloud, throwing javelins and spears hardened with fire. Some of them singled out Magellan. They threw at him lances pointed with iron.
Magellan, seeing that the odds were against him in such a contest, sought to break their lines by firing their houses. Some thirty houses burst into flame.
The sight of the fire maddened the natives and rendered them furious. They discovered that the legs of the invaders were exposed, and that they could be wounded there with poisoned arrows.
A poisoned arrow was aimed at Magellan. It pierced him in the leg. He felt the wound, and knew its import.
He gave orders to retreat. A panic ensued, and his men took to flight.
The air was filled with arrows, spears, stones, and mud.
The Spaniards tried to escape to the boat. The islanders followed them and directed their fury to Magellan. They struck him twice on his helmet.
Magellan's thought now was not for himself, but for the safety of his men. [142]
He stood at his own post fighting that they might make safe their retreat.
He thus broke the assault for nearly an hour, until he was almost left alone.
He tried to rise up, to see if his men were safe. He did not call for assistance, but to the last sought to secure the safety of his men. In fact, he never seemed to so much as think of himself in the whole contest. It was thus that his life went out, and his heart ceased to beat. He was left dead on the sand, on April 27, 1521. The natives refused to surrender his body. Eight of his own men and four Indians, who had become Christians, perished with him.
An Indian suddenly rushed down toward him having a cane lance. He thrust this into his face. Magellan wounded the Indian, and attempted to draw his sword. But he had received a javelin wound in his arm, and his strength failed.
Seeing him falter, the Indian rushed upon him and brought him down to the earth with a rude sword.
The Indians now fell upon him and ran him through with lances.
He tried to rise up, to see if his men were safe. He did not call for assistance, but to the last sought to secure the safety of his men. In fact, he never seemed to so much as think of himself in the whole contest. It was thus that his life went out, and his heart ceased to beat. He was left dead on the sand, on April 27, 1521. The natives refused to surrender his body. Eight of his own men and four Indians, who had become Christians, perished with him.
There was one man who was true to the Admiral to the end. He was wounded with him, but survived. He it was that saw that the Admiral had forgotten himself at the hour of the final conflict. It was Pigafetta, the Italian, whose narrative we are following.
This hero of the pen says of him to whom he gave his heart:
"One of his principal virtues was constancy in the most adverse fortune."
"It was God who made me the messenger of the new heavens and new earth, and told me where to find them," said Columbus. "Maps, charts, and mathematical knowledge had nothing to do with the case."
As sublime an inspiration is seen in the words of Pigafetta in regard to Magellan:
"No one gave to him the example how to encompass the globe." His sight was the inner eye, the pure vision of a consecrated purpose in life.
No hero of the sea has ever been more noble! His purpose in life was everything; he had the faith of a Christian Knight; he was as nothing to himself, but to others all, and he died giving his own body for a shield to his men. His name will always be associated with what is glorious in the history of the Philippines.
Magellan was dead, but a good purpose lives in others. Magellan dead, Del Cano yet lives, and the Italian historian has other scenes to record.
The farol of Magellan will go on; it will never cease to shine, and the cast-out name of the Christian Knight will become a fixed star amid the lights that have inspired the world.
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