the subjection of these islands, he returned to Manila, and since that period no similar attempt has been made. Under this Governor was terminated the discussion which had subsisted between the Chamber of Commerce of Seville and the merchants of Manila, the subject having occupied the public attention many years. The merchants of Seville argued, that the galleon ought not to carry silk from Manila to New Spain, in either its raw or wrought state; and that the commerce of the Philippines with that country ought to be restricted to cotton goods, flag-stones, wax, and spices; and even to this they insisted on the propriety of limits being placed, on account of the great injury arising to the mother country from the trade. The consequence of these discussions was a royal decree, which granted to the merchants of Seville the full extent of what they required; but the Viceroy of Mexico, to whom the decree was forwarded, would not put it in force, representing, in his justification, that the commerce of the Philippines was absolutely necessary to the kingdom of Mexico, as the duties levied upon that commerce fully repaid the expenses of the public establishments requisite for these islands as a colony; and as he had just then received intelligence, that the island of Luzon had suffered most severely not only from the locusts, but from the violent and injudicious conduct of the then Governor (the marshal), he did not conceive he would act correctly in putting the order into execution. Upon this representation being laid before the council, it was resolved, that the Philippines should have two galleons in future, and that the merchants there should be permitted annually to ship in them for New Spain, to the value of three hundred thousand dollars, in goods of every description, wrought silks and gold embroidery excepted, both which were prohibited. As a return cargo, they were permitted to carry back double that amount in silver, and the residue of their profits to be invested in merchandize, or in produce of New Spain. The merchants of Manila again petitioned his Majesty on the subject, and, in compliance with their request, he permitted them to take wrought silk to Acapulco; but on a second representation from the merchants of Seville, stating the heavy loss these concessions would create, the Viceroy of Mexico was finally instructed, that for five years the trade should remain on its old footing, except that the merchants of Manila should not be allowed to send wrought silk to New Spain.