The Philippine Islands, 1493-1898, Volume 51, 1801-1840: Explorations by early navigators, descriptions of the islands and their peoples, their history and records of the catholic missions, as related in contemporaneous books and manuscripts, showing the political, economic, commercial and religious conditions of those islands from their earliest relations with European nations to the close of the nineteenth century
History
The Philippine Islands, 1493-1898, Volume 51, 1801-1840: Explorations by early navigators, descriptions of the islands and their peoples, their history and records of the catholic missions, as related in contemporaneous books and manuscripts, showing the political, economic, commercial and religious conditions of those islands from their earliest relations with European nations to the close of the nineteenth century
Demarcation line of Alexander VI; Missions -- Philippines; Philippines -- Discovery and exploration; Philippines -- History -- Sources
[150] "This spirit of greed compelled the Chinese to abandon in
their internal commerce the gold and silver coins which were in
general use. The number of those who made counterfeit money, which
was continually increasing, permitted no other line of conduct;
and money was no longer coined save in copper. This metal, however,
having become scarce, in consequence of events which history does not
record, the shells so well known under the name of 'cauris' [English,
'cowries'] were mingled with the copper coins; but the government,
having observed that the people were dissatisfied with so frail
an article, ordered that the copper utensils throughout the entire
empire should be given up to the mints. As this ill-judged expedient
did not furnish resources adequate to the public needs, the government
caused about four hundred temples of Foé to be demolished, the idols
in which were melted down. Finally the court paid the magistrates
and the army partly in copper and partly in paper; but the people
rebelled against so dangerous innovation, and it became necessary
to give it up. Since that time, which was three centuries ago, the
coinage of copper is the only legal one." (Raynal, Établissemens et
commerce des Européens, i, pp. 641, 642).
[151] Spanish, temporalidades: referring to the bureau in charge of
the property formerly belonging to the Jesuits.
[152] Thus in text, but evidently a clerical error by Bernaldez's
amanuensis. A similar discrepancy is seen in the estimate of the
trader's profits, below.
[153] The Cortes, as first known by the Spaniards, contained three
divisions, the three estates; the ones called in the three periods
above-mentioned had but one chamber; the present Cortes contains
two houses, the senate and the congress or house of deputies or
representatives. The senate consists of three divisions: senators in
their own right (the heir presumptive, the grandees, archbishops, etc.;
life senators appointed by the crown; and those elected by the people,
half of whom are removable every five years. Members to the lower
house are elected for five years by electors chosen by the people. No
Cortes was held from 1713-1789, and from the latter year until 1810.
[154] For a good account of this period in Spain, which was one of
great confusion, see E. W. Latimer's Spain in the nineteenth century
(Chicago, 1898, 3d ed.) The machinations of Napoleon and the other
events leading up to the establishment of the Cortes of 1810-1813
are well and concisely narrated. See also Hume, Modern Spain (New
York, 1900).
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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