282 THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS 



before his aceessipn to the throne. Legaspi made good his 

 footing ia Cebu, but afterwards transferred his headquarters 

 to Luzon, and the city of Manila was founded in 1581. From 

 this time the islands were gradually brought under the domin- 

 ion of Spain — that is, so far as their subjection was successful, 

 which really extended to little more than the seacoasts and such 

 towns and villages as have been created by the Spaniards or held 

 by their military forces or by the power of the priests. That 

 this dominion has continued is solely from lack of organiza- 

 tion among the natives, and risings have taken place from time 

 to time, but have always been suppressed. The islands have 

 also been frequently threatened from without, but have never 

 been wholly lost to Spain since Legaspi first planted the Span- 

 ish standard on them. For a long time the attacks were made 

 principally by the Portuguese, who were jealous of the increas- 

 ing power of Spain in the Orient ; later the Dutch, incited by a 

 similar feeling, endeavored to obtain possession of the islands. 

 These attacks, however, were never very serious affairs, and the 

 only really dangerous invasion was in 1754, when Li-Ma-Hong, 

 a Chinese pirate, attacked the Spanish possessions with a pow- 

 erful fleet of 95 war junks, but was defeated and compelled to 

 retreat; and again, in 1762, when the English captured the city 

 of Manila and held it and the neighboring country until 1764, 

 when, peace having been restored, the captured territory was re- 

 turned to Spain. 



The more civilized natives and particularly the half-breeds, 

 who are sufficiently educated to crave for greater freedom, have 

 long been in a chronic condition of discontent, induced by op- 

 pressive taxation and tyrannical rule, in which the ecclesiastics 

 have alwaj's used their authority to support the government. 

 This produced a crisis in 1896 and led to the serious insurrec- 

 tion which has been in progress, with various ebbs and flows of 

 fortune, until the present time. 



ADMINISTRATION 



In Madrid there is a council of state for the Philippines, which 

 has in charge the interests of the colony and acts as an advisory 

 board to the Minister of the Colonies. At Manila the adminis- 

 tration of the government has for its head and chief a governor- 

 general. Next to the captain-generalship of Cuba, this is the 

 most important and lucrative post at the disposal of the home 



