to Spain, and of hoftility to whatever nation is engaged in war with her. In the war which began in 1739, and which was not diftinguished by fuch a series of wonderful fucceffes as the laft, the taking of the galleon, which carries on the trade between Manila andAmerica, was confidered as one of the moft brilliant advantages which we obtained; and it has, accordingly, been much infifted upon in all the hiftories of that period. This galleon is generally worth more than 600,000 pounds fterling. The principal island of the Philippines is called Manila, or Luconia; it is in length fomething more than 300 miles; its breadth is extremely unequal; at a medium it may be about 80 or 90. The Spanith inhabitants, who are not numerous, have the government and the beft part of the commerce; the Chinese are the artifans; and the foil is chiefly cultivated by the natives. These latter are of various origins, and of different degrees of favageness, according as they have been more or less fubdued by religion, or refined by intercourfe with ftrangers. For fo large and fertile an inland the number of inhabitants are but fmall; and the whole,perhaps,not amounting to half a million; and of those not a third are in fubjection to the Spaniards. all these islands, and, indeed, the only refpectable place in them is Manila, fituated to the south-east of the island, and lying upon a very fair and fpacious harbour. The buildings, both public and private, being - moftly of wood, have as much magnificence as fuch materials are capable of; and the churches, in particular, are very fplendidly adorned. The Spaniards are difcouraged from building with more durable materials by the terrible earthquakes, to which the ifland is extremely liable. By them the city has been more than once fhaken to the ground. This calamity is fo frequent and dreadful, as, in a great measure, to counterbalance all the advantages of fo rich a foil, and fo defireable a climate. The Spanish inhabitants within the city are about three thousand. Ten thousand Chinese occupy a large fuburb called the Parian. On the conqueft of China by the Tartars, in the last century, great numbers fled their country, filling all the confiderable towns, not only of the Philippines, but of the Moluccas and Sunda islands, with an ingenious and industrious people, who brought with them, and diffused into all these countries, the fkill of manufacture and the fpirit of commerce. The conquest of China had nearly the fame effect, The reft of the Philippine islands, in this part of the world, which the fo far as the Spanith power pre- revocation of the edict of Nantes vails in them, are under the go- produced in ours. Befides the Pavernor of Luconia; but there are rian, there are several other fuburbs many of them, in which that na- of great extent contiguous to this tion has little authority, or even city, inhabited by forty thousand of influence. There are in all about the native Indians, or by that mixed fourteen of them which deferve no- breed fo common in all the Spanish tice. colonies, refulting from that great The capital of Luconia, and of variety of races of men, who ori [B] 2 ginally ced games 13 with Spain, lord Anfon and lord Sataves, senam ise åretines. as but at it is vifur me pernition of fuch a must have proved of very - muze towards carrying So the war with Spain effectually, and muld not, therefore, fail of bag 13 seractageous influence the terms of pacification. Aci was refolved to make teepen the Mamias, from an of operations delivered to dey by colonel Draper; Ad, perhaps, the reader will be d to know how this plan came be formed. After the memorable defence of Madras, in 1759, colonel Draper's da Hate of health obliged him to leave that country. He embarked,in company with the honourable capt. Flowe, then commander of the Winchelfea, for Canton in China, a city with which the inhabitants of Manila carry on a confiderable trade. Here they wifely fpent that time of relaxation from military operations, in attaining fuch a knowledge of the Philippine islands, as might afterwards be ferviceable to their country, giving a leffon to all men in public employment, that, at times when they cannot perform an active fervice, they may fill do a material one by wife attention and fenfible obfervation. They difcovered, that the Spaniards of the Philippine itlands, confiding in their remote distance from Europe, fuppofed an attack upon them impracticable, and were by that fatal fecurity, which is always the confequence of an ill-founded confidence, lulled into a total inattention to a regular military ftrength. Upon the first rumour of a war Egremont were made acquainted with thefe obfervations concerning the fate of the Philippine iflands; they gave that attention to the information, which the importance of it justly merited. They ordered colonel Draper to give his ideas in writing; afuring him, that, if the war fhould become unavoidable by the Spaniards joining with France, they would recommend the undertaking to his majesty. The memorial upon the subject was greatly improved by the naval experience and judgment of capt. Howe, who poffeffes all the noble qualities of his illuftrious family. The motives for the undertak ing (exclufive of the popular and dazzling notions of booty and plunder) were very serious and interefting, both in a commercial and political light. For Manila, in the poffeffion of an enterprifing people, is capable of ruining the whole China trade of any other, as the port of Cavite can build, fit out, and man very large fhips of war, which, if properly stationed, no veffels could pofiibly efcape, unless protected by a fquadron. Befides, with Manila in our hands, we might at all times depend on the proper refpect being fhewn to our flag in the ports of that extenfive empire. On the other hand, the objections to the enterprise were not inconfiderable. It was impoflible to fpare either fhips or troops from England for the conqueft, as the additional weight of Spain in the fcale of France, demanded the utmost exertion of our power nearer home. The vaft diftance of the object, and the uncertainty of the time, in which the expedition conld be undertaken, were, befides, no fmall difficulties but but they were foon obviated. Nothing was demanded but a light frigate to carry colonel Draper to Madras, where alone fuitable preparations could be made for this important enterprise. com The colonel arrived at Madras the latter end of June, 1762, and on his arrival was appointed brigadier general and mander in chief of the expedition, which was to be undertaken folely by the troops and fquadron then in India. No doubt, as we were become arbiters of the great peninfula of India, by the total expulfion of the French, and by, the humiliation of the Dutch, this attempt became more feasible. However, as this dominion was new, and rather entered upon, than firmly established, fomething was to be dreaded even from the : natives; and, therefore, from this peninfula (the only place from which fuch an attempt could be made with any profpect of fuccefs) fo great a force could not be employed, as the difficulty and importance of the enterprife feemed to require. But the fpirit of the troops, and the celerity and judgment with which the preparations were made, compenfated every difficulty. The 79th regiment was the only regular corps that could be spared. But this corps was, by reputation, by fervice, and by being long inured to the climate, almoft equal to an army. By this regiment the progrefs of the French in India had Been firft ftopped. They had contributed not a little to the happy turn and decifion of that war, under colonel Coote; and they were now chofen to extend the glory of the English arms to the utmoft verge of Afia. A company of ar tillery, and a body of feamen and marines, were appointed. to act with them. Some companies of feapoys (Indian foldiers who serve after the European manner) were added. In the whole, the force for the land operations amounted to two thousand three hundred men. The naval force confifted of nine men of war and frigates, befides fome store-fhips. The command of the land forces in this expedition was given, as before mentioned, to brigadier general Draper. Nobody was more perfectly acquainted with the fervice in that part of the world; and nobody had shewn greater zeal to forward it. It was impoffible to forget the merit he had in the prefervation of Madras, and in giving the Eaft India war, against Mr. Lally, the firft turn in our favour. Admiral Cornish commanded the marine; a brave and able officer, and worthy to cooperate with fuch a general, in fuch an important fervice. three weeks the preparations for forming this body, and getting ready all the ftores, were begun, compleated, and the whole fhipped through a raging and perpetual furf, which in thofe climates is one of the greatest difficulties in any expedition, extremely embarraffing the embarkation, and rendering ftill more hazardous the debarkation of troops, especially in the face of an enemy, who knows how to profit of this advantage. In The celerity of thofe preparations was neceffary. In the Eaft Indies, they are obliged to regu late all their motions by the courfe of the monfoons. The feason for the expedition was far advanced, when the plan and orders arrived; and, if the north [B] 3 weft ftance, that plan has not been attended with any material inconvenience. The fortune of the expeditions, depending during the negotiation of the peace, was not, by the mutual confent of parties, to have any influence on the terms of it. The places taken were to be reciprocally restored. We, therefore, thought it more prudent to present to the reader à narrative of that important tranfaction, entire and unbroken, rather than poftpone any part of it until we had gathered in all the scattered events of the war. However, there were events, and fome of them fo confiderable, to the knowledge of which we have arrived fince the conclufion of our Jaft year's labour, that they ought by no means to be omitted. They will furnish fomething to the entertainment we propose for the public in the prefent; and they are fuch, as not unworthily close that great fcene of national glory which Great Britain had displayed to the world, during the five laft campaigns. The chief of thefe was the expedition against the Manilas. Its importance will justify that detail in which we propose to consider it. The Manilas, or Philippines, form a principal divifion of that immenfe Indian Archipelago, which confifts of many hundred iflands, fome of them the largeft, and many of them by nature the richeft in the world; and which lie in the torrid zone, extending from the 19th degree of north latitude, almost in a continued chain, to New Guinea, and to the neighbouring fhores of the great fouthern continent. The Philippines form the northernmost cluster of thefe iflands. They were discovered in the year 1521, by the famous navigator Ferdinand Magellan: they were added to the Spanish monarchy by Don Lewis de Velafco, in 1564, in the reign of Philip the fecond, under whom the Spanish dominion was greatly augmented, and its real ftrength, at the same time, so impaired, that almoft two centuries have not reftored it to its former vigour. The Philippines are fcarce inferior to any of the other iflands of Afia, in all the natural productions of that happy climate; and they are by far the best fituated for an extended and advantageous commerce. By their pofition they form the center of intercourse with China, Japan, and the Spice Inlands; and whilft they are under the dominion of Spain, they connect the Afiatic and American commerce, and become the general entrepôt for the rich manufac tures and products of the one, and for the treasures of the other. Befides, they are well fituated for a fupply of European goods, both from the fide of Acapulco, and by the way of the Cape of Good Hope. In fact, they formerly enjoyed a traffic in fome degree proportioned to the peculiar felicity of their fituation; but the Spanish dominion is too vaft and unconnected to be improved to the best advantage. The fpirit of commerce is not powerful in that people. The trade of the Philippines is thought to have declined; its great branch, is now reduced to two thips, which annually pass between these islands and Acapulco in America, and to a fingle port, that of Manila, in an ifland of the fame name. But though declined, this trade is ftill a vast object of protection ta to Spain, and of hoftility to whatever nation is engaged in war with her. In the war which began in 1739, and which was not diftinguished by fuch a series of wonderful fucceffes as the laft, the taking of the galleon, which carries on the trade between Manila andAmerica, was confidered as one of the moft brilliant advantages which we obtained; and it has, accordingly, been much infifted upon in all the hiftories of that period. This galleon is generally worth more than 600,000 pounds fterling. The principal island of the Philippines is called Manila, or Luconia; it is in length fomething more than 300 miles; its breadth is extremely unequal; at a medium it may be about 80 or 90. The Spanith inhabitants, who are not numerous, have the government and the best part of the commerce; the Chinese are the artifans; and the foil is chiefly cultivated by the natives. Thefe latter are of various origins, and of different degrees of favagenefs, according as they have been more or less fubdued by religion, or refined by intercourfe with ftrangers. For fo large and fertile an island the number of inhabitants are but fmall; and the whole,perhaps,not amounting to half a million; and of those not a third are in subjection to the Spaniards. all these iflands, and, indeed, the only refpectable place in them is Manila, fituated to the south-east of the island, and lying upon a very fair and fpacious harbour. The buildings, both public and private, being moftly of wood, have as much magnificence as fuch materials are capable of; and the churches, in particular, are very fplendidly adorned. The Spaniards are difcouraged from building with more durable materials by the terrible earthquakes, to which the ifland is extremely liable. By them the city has been more than once fhaken to the ground. This calamity is fo frequent and dreadful, as, in a great measure, to counterbalance all the advantages of fo rich a foil, and fo defireable `a climate. The Spanish inhabitants within the city are about three thousand. Ten thousand Chinese occupy a large fuburb called the Parian. On the conqueft of China by the Tartars, in the laft century, great numbers fled their country, filling all the confiderable towns, not only of the Philippines, but of the Moluccas and Sunda islands, with an ingenious and industrious people, who brought with them, and diffused into all these countries, the kill of manufacture and the fpirit of commerce. The conquest of China had nearly the fame effect, The reft of the Philippine iflands, in this part of the world, which the fo far as the Spanith power prerevocation of the edict of Nantes vails in them, are under the go- produced in ours. Befides the Pavernor of Luconia; but there are rian, there are feveral other fuburbs many of them, in which that naof great extent contiguous to this tion has little authority, or even city, inhabited by forty thousand of influence. There are in all about the native Indians, or by that mixed fourteen of them which deferve no- breed fo common in all the Spanish tice. colonies, refulting from that great The capital of Lusonia, and of variety of races of men, who ori |