Asia Books

Preface The present volume covers the period of 1583 to 1588 inclusive. At the close of two decades of Spanish occupation in the Philippines, the native population is decimated, and the Spanish colonists are poor, heavily burdened with taxation, and largely non-producing. The islands are but nominally defended by a small, irregular, demoralized force of unpaid soldiers, whose lawlessness and arrogance... more...

INTRODUCTION Very little is known about the authoress of this interesting book. She is reticent about the affairs of her husband and of herself, and inquiries recently made at Lucknow, at the India Office, and in other likely quarters in England, have added little to the scanty information we possess about her. The family of her husband claimed to be of Sayyid origin, that is to say, to be descended... more...

CHAPTER I. PRE-WAR MILITARY EXPENDITURE. The Great War, into the whirlpool of which Nation after Nation has been drawn, has entered on its fourth year. The rigid censorship which has been established makes it impossible for any outside the circle of Governments to forecast its duration, but to me, speaking for a moment not as a politician but as a student of spiritual laws, to me its end is sure. For... more...

PREFACE The general documents contained in this volume cover the years 1601-03; they are followed by Chirino's Relacion, which was published in 1604, but the events related therein end in 1602. The two notable occurrences in this period are the great fire, and the Chinese revolt in Manila in the year 1603—the latter ending in the slaughter or expulsion of almost all the Chinese in the islands.... more...

CHAPTER I FIRST STEPS IN WAR It is given to some regiments to spread their achievements over the quiet centuries, while to the lot of others it falls to live, for a generation or two, in an atmosphere of warlike strife and ever present danger. The Guides have been, from a soldier's point of view, somewhat fortunate in seeing much service during the past sixty years; and thus their history lends... more...

Chapter XXX Of the first election of our father Fray Lorenzo de León With the fourth of May, 1596, all the capitular religious of this province of SantГѓ­simo Nombre de Jesús of Filipinas assembled, and without much debate cast their votes for father Fray Lorenzo de León,a native of the city of Granada, and son of the house at Méjico, whose learning, ability to preach, and other good... more...

Ecclesiastical Affairs of the Philippines Royal Instructions to Gomez Perez Dasmariñas Regarding Ecclesiastical Affairs The King. To Gomez Perez Dasmariñas, my governor and captain-general of the Philipinas Islands, or the person or persons in charge of their government: I ordered a decree of various articles to be given to my viceroy of Nueva España, in regard to what was to be done and observed in... more...

Preface The scope of the present volume is confined to the year 1636, but enough of interest occurs within that time—thanks to the overflowing energy of the new governor, Corcuera, who promptly reorganizes all departments of the government; his controversies with the archbishop and the friars; and the difficulties and dissensions which affect the orders themselves. The greater part of this volume is... more...

CHAPTER 1. SITUATION.NAME.GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF THE COUNTRY, ITS MOUNTAINS, LAKES, AND RIVERS.AIR AND METEORS.MONSOONS, AND LAND AND SEA-BREEZES.MINERALS AND FOSSILS.VOLCANOES.EARTHQUAKES.SURFS AND TIDES. If antiquity holds up to us some models, in different arts and sciences, which have been found inimitable, the moderns, on the other hand, have carried their inventions and improvements, in a variety... more...

CHAPTER I THE EARLY AGES The Chinese are unquestionably the oldest nation in the world, and their history goes back to a period to which no prudent historian will attempt to give a precise date. They speak the language and observe the same social and political customs that they did several thousand years before the Christian era, and they are the only living representatives to-day of a people and... more...