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to Spain, and of hoftility to what ever nation is engaged in war with her. In the war, which began in 1739, and which was not diftinguished by fuch a feries of wonderful fucceffes as the laft, the taking of the galleon, which carries on the trade between Manila and America, 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 ifland 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 go. The Spanifh 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 lefs fubdued by religion, or refined by intercourse 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.

The rest of the Philippine islands, fo far as the Spanish power prevails in them, are under the governor of Luconia; but there are many of them, in which that nation has little authority, or even influence. There are in all about fourteen of them which deferve notice.

The capital of Luconia, and of

all thefe iflands, and, indeed, the only refpectable place in them, is Manila, fituated to the fouth-eaft of the ifland, 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 island 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 counterballance all the advantages of fo rich a foil, and fo defirable a climate.

The Spanish inhabitants, within the city, are about three thoufand. Ten thoufand Chinefe 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 induftrious people, who brought with them, and diffufed into all thefe countries, the kill of manufacture and the fpirit of commerce. The conqueft of China had nearly the fame effe&t in this part of the world, which the revocation of the edict of Nantes produced in ours Befides the Parian, there are feveral other fuburbs of great extent contiguous to this city, inhabited by forty thousand of the native Indians, or by that mixed breed fo common in all the Spanish colonies, refulting from that great variety of races of men, who originally

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LONDON: Printed for R. and J DODSLEY, in Pall-Mall, 1764.

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ON the close of our laft volume, we became apprehenfive of a deficiency of materials towards furnishing an hiftory of the fucceeding years. The peace feemed to be fo well fettled, that one might imagine, there could be little room for political difputes amongst the feveral powers, and none at all for actual war and hoftility. In reality, Europe may be faid to be perfectly quiet but the extent of the commercial empire of Great Britain is fuch, and it engages her in fuch a vast variety of difficult connections, that it is almoft impoffible for any confiderable length of time to pafs over, without producing abundance of events of a very interefting nature; and we heartily wish we could flatter ourselves, that we fhould be found as equal to our materials of history, as we are likely to be well fupplied with them. The favage war, which has unfortunately broke out in America fince the conclufion of the general peace, has been fruitful of events; and it is not yet ended. Since then, troubles of great confequence have likewise arisen in the Eaft Indies, which threaten to afford us VOL. VI.

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