Philippine E-Journals

Abuses in The Philippine Government During the last Quarter of the Eighteenth Century Anonymous

* Anonymous

Discipline: History

 

Abstract:

The following manuscript is a partial enumeration of the excesses committed by the Governors-General and their alcaldes mayores, a position which corresponds to our present-day provincial governors. Written in the eighteenth century Spanish penmanship, this MS originally belongs to the famed Kingsborough and Phillips collection in London, and is now in the possession of the American bibliophile, Mr. John Galvin of Santa Barbara, California. It consists of 34 pages, with several crossed out or containing marginal notes, on official stationery, size 8 x 11-1/2 inches, or "papeI sellado" bearing the year 1767 and the rubber stamp of the royal seal on two sheets. This monograph has been bound with two other MSS: a chronological list of the Viceroys of New Spain, consisting of 7 pages; and 12 pages listing the 20 provinces in the Philippines. Judging by the penmanship, the two MSS on the Philippines were written by one and the same hand, and we are reprinting their translations for the first time. We are indebted to Miss Adelaide E. Smithers for the English translation.