together with all
its colonies, was handed over to the Spanish Crown; and the period
extending from this event to the decay of Portugal (1580-1640)
witnessed the Philippines at the height of their power and prosperity.

[Manila as capital of a vast empire.] The Governor of Manila ruled
over a part of Mindanao, Sulu, the Moluccas, Formosa, and the original
Portuguese possessions in Malacca and India. "All that lies between
Cape Singapore and Japan is subject to Luzon; their ships cross the
ocean to China and New Spain, and drive so magnificent a trade that,
if it were only free, it would be the most extraordinary that the
world could show. It is incredible what glory these islands confer
upon Spain. The Governor of the Philippines treats with the Kings of
Cambodia, Japan, China. The first is his ally, the last his friend;
and the same with Japan. He declares war or peace, without waiting
for the command from distant Spain." [262] [Dutch opposition.] But
the Dutch had now begun the struggle, which they managed to carry
on against Philip II in every corner of the world; and even in 1510
De Los Rios complained that he found the country very much altered
through the progress and advance made by the Dutch; also that the Moros
of Mindanao and Sulu, feeling that they were supported by Holland,
were continually in a state of discontent.

[Decline of colony.] The downfall of Portugal occasioned the loss of
her colonies once more. Spanish policy, the government of the priests,
and the jealousy of the Spanish merchants and traders especially,
did everything that remained to be done to prevent the development
of agriculture and commerce--perhaps, on the whole, fortunately,
for the natives.

[Philippine history unimportant and unsatisfactory.] The
subsequent history of the Philippines is, in all its particulars,
quite as unsatisfactory and uninteresting as that of all the other
Spanish-American possessions. Ineffectual expeditions against pirates,
and continual disputes between the clerical and secular authorities,
form the principal incidents. [263]

[Undesirable emigrants from Spain.] After the first excitement of
religious belief and military renown had subsided, the minds of those
who went later to these outlying possessions, consisting generally as
they did of the very dregs of the nation, were seized with an intense
feeling of selfishness; and frauds and speculations were the natural
sequence. The Spanish writers are full