Page:The Philippine Islands, 1493-1803 (Volume 51).djvu/17



In the present volume, a brief outline of events in Filipinas during the period 1801-40 serves as a background and setting for the following surveys of political, social, and economic conditions in the islands during that period. Of these, one is made by an English naval officer who had visited the islands, another by a Spanish official of long experience, and a third (presented in synopsis) by a merchant familiar with the commerce of the Orient and the Americas. These different accounts (written at nearly the same time) furnish most valuable knowledge of the Philippines and their people, and their needs and possibilities; and at the same time they reflect the more enlightened and liberal ideas of policy and administration which had gained a foothold in Spain, and which the recent loss of her other colonies had made her more willing to put in practice in Filipinas.

The leading events in Philippine history during the first four decades of the nineteenth century are briefly epitomized from Montero y Vidal's Historia de Filipinas. Governor Aguilar opposes the appointment of native secular priests to the curacies, regarding them as unfit for these posts. During his term, he introduces public street-lighting, paved sidewalks, and vaccination in Manila, and various other