[1] Historia de Filipinas, p. 682.
[2] These orders and other documents dealing with the Jesuit expulsion are printed in Montero y Vidal, Historia de Filipinas, vol. II. p. 180 sq.
[3] But the conquest was almost valueless, and a few years later the inhabitants had to be transported to Cagayan because of the scarcity of food.
[4] Alava made a series of journeys through the different provinces of the Philippines, and on these trips he was accompanied by Friar Martinez de Zuñiga, whose narrative of these expeditions forms a most interesting and valuable survey of the conditions of the Islands and the people at the beginning of the nineteenth century. “Estadismo de las Islas Filipinas, 6 mis viajes por este pais, por el Padre Fr. Joaquin Martinez de Zuñiga. Publica esta obra por primera vez extensamente anotada W. E. Retana.” 2 vols. Madrid, 1893.
[5] Jagor: Viajes por Filipinas, p. 81. Translated from the German. Madrid, 1895.
[6] See Estado de las Islas Filipinas en 1847, by D. Sinibaldo de Mas.
Chapter XII.
Progress and Revolution. 1837–1897.
Progress during the Last Half-Century of Spanish Rule.—We have now come to the last half-century and to the last phase of Spanish rule. In many respects this period was one of economic and social progress, and contained more of promise than any other in the history of the Islands. During this last half-century the Spanish rulers had numerous plans for the development and better administration of the Philippines, and, in spite of a somewhat wavering policy and the continual sore of official peculation, this was a period of wonderful advancement. Revolution and separation from Spain came at last, as revolutions usually do, not because there was no effort nor movement for reform, but because progress was so discouragingly slow and so irritatingly blocked by established interests that desired no change.